1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and particularly to an electrical connector for mounting on a circuit board having different designs and configurations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Please refer to U.S. 20030096517 A1 invented by Yi-Tse Ho, Ho discloses an electrical connector 1 for mounting on a circuit board 2, comprising an insulative housing 11, a plurality of terminals 12 disposed therein and a pair of locking elements 1194 locking the electrical connector 1 with the circuit board 2. Each terminal 12 comprises a horizontally extending connecting end 121, a contacting portion 1211 extending forwardly from the connecting end 121, a mating end 122 having a height difference with respect to the connecting end 121 and securing portion 123 connecting the connecting end 121 and the mating end 122 and being substantially upright. Particularly refer to FIGS. 3-4 of Ho, the locking elements 1194 pass through the electrical connector 1 and lock with the circuit board after the assembly is completed. Under that condition, a pre-pressure force exerting on the housing 11 are required. Accordingly, the mating ends 122 of the terminals 12 bear a upright force exerted by top surface of the circuit board 2. Therefore, it is inevitable to encounter a danger that the terminals 12 pivot at middle portion thereof within the housing 11. A reliable electrical connection will be affected. A similar electrical connector disclosed by Chiang (TW M254753) also suffers from the same problem.
Further refer to U.S. Pat. No. 7,186,126 B2 invented by Umehara et al., Umehara et al. discloses a floating electrical connector 1 comprising a plurality of contacts 10, an insulating movable housing 20, an insulating fixed housing 30 and a pair of pin bodies 40. Each of the contacts 10 comprises a retention section 11 press-fitted into the movable housing 20, a mating section 12 extending forward from the retention section 11, an inverted S-shaped link 13 extending rearward from the retention section 11, a retention section 14 providing at the rear end of the link 13 and press-fitted to the fixed housing 30 and a terminal section 15 extending downward and connecting to a circuit board. Such a structure of the electrical connector 1 is so complicated and high cost. The contacts 10 may be destroyed in case of a movement between the insulating movable housing 20 and the insulating fixed housing 30.
Hence, an improved electrical connector is desired to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.